Ahwahneechee
Yosemite Indians called themselves Ahwahneechee
“People of Ahwahnee”
Ahwahnee, their name for Yosemite Valley, their home,
Ahwahnee means “mouth”
because the valley walls resemble a gaping bear’s mouth.
Ahwahnee does not mean “deep, grassy valley.”
For details see the article
“Origin of the Word Yosemite.”
Books and articles about the Ahwahneechee
are available online, with the complete text
and usually the original illustrations.
The Ahwahneechee during discovery by Europeans
was a mixed tribe of Northern Paiute, Southern Sierra Miwok,
and other Native Americans.

The Southern Sierra Miwok (Me-wuk), which means “people”,
originally lived in present Yosemite National Park and
central western Sierra Nevada foothills in California.

The Northern Paiute
or “Western Mono” originally came
from the eastern Sierra Nevada area and settled in
Hetch Hetchy Valley and,
as part of Chief Tenaya’s tribe, Yosemite Valley.
The word Paiute came from Fremont.
Paiute call themselves Numa in their language,
which means “people”

The Last of the California Rangers
(1928)
by Jill L. Cossley-Batt.
Biography of William Howard, including information on the California State Rangers, Mariposa Battalion, discovery of Yosemite, and Joaquin Murieta.

The Miwok In Yosemite
(Yosemite Association, 1996)
by Craig D. Bates.
Brief description of the Miwok in the words of Miwok people.
Photos, and English and Miwok text.

The Yosemite Museum building,
located next door to the Visitor Center in Yosemite Village, Yosemite Valley,
houses the
Indian Cultural Exhibit.
Additionally, a
reconstructed Indian village, Ahwahnee,
with interpretive signs,
is located behind (east of) the museum